First of all, Pastor Kim wants to look at John 19: 19.
There is a thing called Yeshua. Yeshua is supposedly the Hebrew name for Jesus. Pastor Kim has acknowledged in other videos that the Hebrew translation for Jesus can be Yeshua. However, when Pastor Kim says that, he is not saying that this is necessarily the true original name.
Pastor Kim wants to make something clear: Yeshua is not proven to be the original Hebrew name during Jesus Christ’s day.
Pastor Kim wants to stress the fact that we do not know this with certainty. It is a modern Hebrew translation.
Hebrew Was a Dead Language
Why does Pastor Kim say that?
The reason is that Hebrew was a dead language for more than a thousand years.
Hebrew was revived relatively recently, particularly during the mid-1900s, although its revival began during the later centuries. During that long period, the Jews were losing their Hebrew language.
With such a large time gap, how can we know exactly what the original Hebrew pronunciation was during Jesus Christ’s time?
The people who were carrying the Hebrew language were Jewish leaders. But aside from that fact, we do not know the original Hebrew pronunciation from that time.
Pastor Kim’s point is that the evidence for Yeshua is weak and not proven.
The important distinction here is that there is no comparable proof for Yeshua. There are not even archaeological findings proving that this was Jesus Christ’s original name. It is theorized.
Where Did the Name Yeshua Come From?
How did they come up with the name Yeshua?
The theory comes from the Hebrew name Yahushua. They take Yahushua and theorize that the Jews during the time of the Dead Sea Scrolls had a habit of shortening words.
According to this theory, from the time of the Old Testament through the time of the Dead Sea Scrolls, which overlaps with the period of Jesus Christ, Jews after the Babylonian exile supposedly had a habit of shortening words. Therefore, Yahushua was supposedly shortened to Yeshua.
Pastor Kim considers that quite a lot of guesswork and a wild theory.
How Names Normally Work Between Languages
Consider this example.
If Pastor Kim were to mention a Hispanic name to a group of Americans, the name would normally be retained.
For example, take the name Jose.
If Pastor Kim mentioned a Hispanic person’s name, Jose, to a group of Americans, the pronunciation might not sound exactly Hispanic depending on how an American pronounces it, but it would retain the same name: Jose. Pastor Kim would not translate Jose into an entirely different word.
The same thing would happen if a Hispanic person mentioned an American name such as Smith. The Hispanic person might pronounce it differently, but the name would remain Smith.
The point is that when a name from one language is communicated in another language, the name is normally retained. The pronunciation may be different, but the name remains similar.
It would be strange to translate the name every time. Imagine people playing a game and someone shouted, “Jose, catch the ball!” They would not translate the name Jose every time.
Jesus Before Pilate
When the Hebrew Pharisees brought Jesus to Pilate and introduced Jesus to Pilate, they would obviously pronounce Jesus Christ’s name. They would not translate it into a completely different word.
Pilate was Roman. The Pharisees were Hebrews. And there is another important fact: the common language during that biblical era was Greek. That is why the New Testament was written in Greek.
If you look at the Greek New Testament, Jesus’ name is Iēsous.
Now consider Latin. Pilate was Roman, and in Latin the name is Iesus.
Notice how close these words are to the English word Jesus. This demonstrates that Jesus is not a fake name.
Some, though not all, Yeshua advocates vehemently attack the English usage of Jesus and say that it is not the correct name. But Pastor Kim’s point is that the Latin form is very close to Jesus, and the Greek form is also close. The proposed Hebrew form is much further removed.
When the Pharisees mentioned Jesus Christ’s name to Pilate, who was Roman, and in the context of a Greek-speaking world, the pronunciation would naturally differ between languages while retaining the same name.
Rabbinical Writings
According to the discussion, Jewish sources, including the Talmud, refer to Jesus by a form closer to Yeshu rather than Yeshua.
Interestingly, Yeshua does appear in rabbinical writings, but when Yeshua is used there, it refers to the Old Testament character Joshua rather than Jesus Christ. When Jesus is mentioned in the rabbinical writings, a different form is used – Yeshu.
This provides another point to consider regarding whether Yeshua was actually the name used for Jesus Christ.
John 19 and the Three Languages
Pilate wrote Jesus’ name and a title and put it on the cross.
John 19:19-20: “And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was, JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS. This title then read many of the Jews: for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city: and it was written in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin.”
Pilate wrote Jesus’ name in these three languages. The point is that when a name is written in another language, it does not suddenly become a completely different name.
What Language Did Jesus Speak?
What was the language spoken during Jesus Christ’s time? It was not modern Hebrew. Modern Hebrew developed much later, after a very significant gap.
During Jesus Christ’s time, Aramaic was spoken.
Mark 14:36: “And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt.”
The word Abba is Aramaic. Jesus Christ and the people during that time spoke Aramaic. Aramaic was a form of Syriac Hebrew.
Aramaic and the Name of Jesus
Pastor Kim points out that the Aramaic or Syriac pronunciation of Jesus’ name is another form, Yeshu.
In Arabic, it is Isa.
Notice that Isa, when pronounced, is different but can still be seen as similar in wording to the Greek form.
If the issue is the Aramaic or Syriac pronunciation, and Arabic uses Isa, then using these different linguistic forms demonstrates how weak it is to insist that one particular modern Hebrew pronunciation must have been the exact name used during Jesus Christ’s lifetime.
The argument is not limited to Hebrew sources. It also involves Aramaic, which was the language spoken during that time. When the origins and linguistic history are considered, the evidence for Yeshua as the precise original pronunciation is weak.
Does the Pronunciation Really Matter?
One thing Pastor Kim wants people to understand is that making a major issue out of exactly how Jesus Christ’s name is pronounced is very silly, even according to Jews.
In Hebrew, different pronunciations do not necessarily make a name right or wrong.
This is why Pastor Kim has stressed that when God gives different languages to different people and they worship the Lord Jesus Christ, He does not make salvation dependent upon how that name is pronounced in their own language.
Consider Judaism 101 and the Hebrew alphabet. One example is the Jewish festival of lights.
In Hebrew, the name can be spelled in several different ways, including Hanukkah or Chanukah. None is right or wrong.
Each spelling has a legitimate phonetic and orthographic basis. One spelling is not necessarily declared the only correct spelling.
God does not make a major issue out of the precise pronunciation when people worship the Lord Jesus Christ in their own language.
Why Pastor Kim Tolerates the Use of Yeshua
This is why Pastor Kim is willing to tolerate the use of Yeshua in modern Hebrew. Pastor Kim is not saying that Yeshua is the true Biblical Hebrew name of Jesus Christ.
Rather, Pastor Kim tolerates the usage while maintaining that there is insufficient evidence that this was the actual name used during Jesus Christ’s lifetime.
There are also Jews today who have become Christians who do not even believe that this is the proper name to use.
Pastor Kim has spoken with Jewish Christians who do not believe in using Yeshua. Pastor Kim is more lenient toward Yeshua because he is trying to be fair in the argument.
This is different from another proposed name, Yahweh that Pastor Kim rejects completely because, according to his argument, that name comes from a pagan god. Pastor Kim considers that one completely bogus, whereas Yeshua is being treated as a matter of historical and linguistic debate.
The Yeshua Movement
Pastor Kim wants people online to understand something about the Yeshua movement. They insist on calling Jesus Christ Yeshua rather than Jesus. Some people who speak English online will speak English normally, but when they come to the name of Jesus, they refuse to use the English name Jesus and instead switch to modern Hebrew.
Pastor Kim’s question is: if they are going to switch to Hebrew for Jesus’ name, then why not speak everything else in Hebrew as well?
Pastor Kim once spoke with a Jewish Christian who had dealt with a group of Yeshua movement people. These people were insisting that she, as a Jewish person, should not call Jesus Jesus but should call Him Yeshua. She told Pastor Kim that whenever she said Yeshua, she felt an ominous spirit behind it and did not feel comfortable about it.
Pastor Kim is not saying that the translation itself is demonic. But Pastor Kim believes that the movement surrounding the insistence on this name is demonic.
God’s Salvation Is Not Limited by Language
Pastor Kim believes this is important because Paul warned the Galatians about Jews who attempted to force them to follow Jewish customs.
Galatians 5:12 “I would they were even cut off which trouble you.”
The principle Pastor Kim draws from this is that God does not want one culture to be forced upon somebody else.
When God ordained the differences of languages, He allowed those languages to exist. Every language people have is God-ordained.
People should leave it as it is rather than thinking that one language or culture is superior and forcing somebody else into that culture or language.
Anyone around the world can call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved, regardless of language or ethnicity.
Salvation is open to all.